Thursday 9 July 2015 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT Health and Social Care Bob Doris (Glasgow) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the Scottish Cosmetic Interventions Expert Group’s report and recommendations on the future regulation of independent healthcare provision. (S4W-26603) Maureen Watt: The Scottish Cosmetic Interventions Expert Group submitted its report and recommendations to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in June 2015. Following consideration, the CMO agreed with the proposals and this report will be published on the Scottish Government’s website on 9 July 2015. Learning and Justice Paul Martin (Glasgow Provan) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many registered sex offenders have been released from prison in each year since 2004, also broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) parliamentary (i) region and (ii) constituency. (S4W-26260) Michael Matheson: I have asked officials from across the justice sector to provide a response as no single area holds all the information that you have requested. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) management information system (PR2) includes details on whether someone is on the sex offenders’ register at the point of liberation. However, the information held by SPS may not reflect the true number of registered sex offenders liberated in each calendar year as some individuals subject to registration will be registered after they are released. This information forms part of an individual’s case management but details of this cannot be extracted without manually searching the individual cases. SPS cannot provide a breakdown of where sex offenders are released to in terms of local authorities and parliamentary area as the information held by SPS is not in this form. Since 2007 the responsible authorities in all areas of Scotland have a statutory duty to jointly establish arrangements for the assessment and management of the risks posed by registered sex offenders. These arrangements are known as the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) and are supported by national guidance. The MAPPA areas are aligned with the eight community justice areas and all performance data relates to these geographical areas and the 14 police divisions. MAPPA data exists only from 2007 and registered sex offender release numbers is not one of the national performance management statistics. Registered sex offenders are legally required to provide up to date details of where they are staying and this is recorded by the local authorities. Planning for the release of a registered sex offender begins at least 12 weeks in advance of the release date, and involves the SPS working in conjunction with community based partners to ensure that the offender is properly risk assessed and managed in the community at a level commensurate with the risk posed. The agencies can use a range of measures to monitor and manage a registered sex offender including surveillance, electronic tagging, curfews, and sex offender protection orders which now include positive obligations as well as prohibitions on where they can go, who they contact and what they must do. Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many stop and searches were conducted in East Renfrewshire in 2013-14, broken down by people aged (a) under 12, (b) 12 to 15, (c) 16 to 25 and (d) over 25. (S4W-26277) Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you. Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many people who were subject to a stop and search in East Renfrewshire in 2013-14 were stopped more than once, and what information it has on how many times each person was stopped. (S4W-26278) Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you. Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that all stop and searches in East Renfrewshire are intelligence-led, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter. (S4W-26279) Michael Matheson: Where and when to conduct searches is an operational matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you. Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many of the stop and searches in East Renfrewshire in 2013-14 resulted in a positive finding. (S4W-26280) Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you. Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many of the stop and searches in East Renfrewshire in 2013-14 resulted in a (a) prosecution and (b) conviction. (S4W-26281) Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you. Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the number of people stopped and searched in East Renfrewshire in 2013-14 was too high, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter. (S4W-26282) Michael Matheson: Where and when to conduct searches is an operational matter for Police Scotland. Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to reduce the number of stop and searches in East Renfrewshire. (S4W-26283) Michael Matheson: Where and when to conduct searches is an operational matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you. Drew Smith (Glasgow) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what minimum distance between home and school entitles a pupil to access a local authority school transport service and whether it plans to review this. (S4W-26292) Alasdair Allan: Local authorities have a duty under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to make such arrangements as they consider necessary for the transport between home and school of pupils residing and attending schools in their area. In considering these arrangements, authorities are required to have regard to the safety of the pupil. In practice, although the statutory provision relating to school transport does not prescribe a distance beyond which a local authority should provide school transport, all authorities currently provide free transport for pupils living more than the statutory walking distance from the school the authority has identified as the nearest suitable school. The statutory walking distance is defined as two miles for children aged under eight and three miles for those aged eight and older. There are no plans to change the current arrangements. Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to reduce the number of stop and searches in South Scotland. (S4W-26340) Michael Matheson: Where and when to conduct searches is an operational matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you. Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many of the stop and searches in the (a) Ayr, (b) Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, (c) Clydesdale, (d) East Lothian, (e) Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, (f) Galloway and West Dumfries, (g) Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and (h) Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency in 2013-14 resulted in a (i) prosecution and (ii) conviction. (S4W-26341) Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you. Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many of the stop and searches in the (a) Ayr, (b) Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, (c) Clydesdale, (d) East Lothian, (e) Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, (f) Galloway and West Dumfries, (g) Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and (h) Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency in 2013-14 resulted in a positive finding. (S4W-26342) Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him write to you. Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many people who were subject to a stop and search in the (a) Ayr, (b) Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, (c) Clydesdale, (d) East Lothian, (e) Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, (f) Galloway and West Dumfries, (g) Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and (h) Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency in 2013-14 were stopped more than once, and what information it has on how many times each person was stopped. (S4W-26343) Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you. Graeme Pearson (South Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many stop and searches were conducted in the (a) Ayr, (b) Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, (c) Clydesdale, (d) East Lothian, (e) Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, (f) Galloway and West Dumfries, (g) Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and (h) Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency in 2013-14, broken down by people aged (i) under 12, (ii) 12 to 15, (iii) 16 to 25 and (iv) over 25. (S4W-26344) Michael Matheson: The information requested is a matter for Police Scotland. I have alerted the chief constable to your question and I have asked him to write to you.